Critic's Notebook; Latin Music, Where the Big Bands Live On

Published: December 25, 1989

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While they played classic salsa, full of call-and-response singing and improvising and the buzzing treble sound of the tres, their harmonies were the equal of any big band working, with quickly shifting chords coursing though a piece.

The band's lead singer, Johnny Rivera, sang in a high tenor that turned a song celebrating a rumba into a pleading lament. Playing at rock-and-roll volume, the band used sophisticated dynamics and arrangements, at times stripping down its sound to just the tres and the piano worked away at an ostinato, letting Mr. Rivera's voice float gracefully, until the horns came in. During two chord montuno sections, the trumpet players unfurled loping and slick be-bop solos.

Where Conjunto Clasico's jazz elements come out in its harmonies and the band members' occasional solos, the band led by the veteran pianist Eddie Palmieri at S.O.B.'s two Wednesdays ago was all jazz over a Latin beat. Mr. Palmieri, who was with the jazz version of his big orchestra, is a manic, driven soloist committed to complicated harmonies.

His piano solos stretch the two-chord improvisational section of a tune to the breaking point, throwing in bright modernist harmonies, mixing them up with chromatic chordal passages recalling the work of Chick Corea with Miles Davis's band in the late 1960's and early 70's.

Mr. Palmieri is a virtuoso, and he isn't afraid to let an audience know it. Backed by a horn section of three trumpets, a tenor saxophonist, a violinist, several percussionists and a bassist, Mr. Palmieri ran through several of his older compositions, including ''Azucar Para Ti.'' With the audience clapping the clave rhythm of salsa, he poured chords into the tune, using be-bop harmonies. Blues ideas permeated his solo; at times, he'd thump the lower end of the keyboard, banging away only to next sprinkle high notes on his solo seconds later.

Taking his time, Mr. Palmieri left mile-wide open spaces in his solos, giving the impression that he was willing to improvise all night. And while he unleashed brilliant solos, the audience danced, gracefully.

To appreciate salsa is to appreciate an increasingly archaic way of making music. Most of these orchestras hone their skills in front of an audience. Their recordings, important enough both financially and esthetically, are secondary to the live performance, and in general are simply produced documents of a live show. Most modern pop, instead, is produced first in a studio; live shows fill a financial need, or promote the records, or satisfy an audience's desire to see the performers in the flesh. Salsa exemplifies music which came out of nontechnological rituals; it came from a world where religion and music mixed, where the importance of human interaction between musicians and their community was paramount. Salsa Spots COPACABANA, #10 East 60th Street,(755-6010). Tuesdays, 6 P.M. to 3 A.M.; Fridays and Saturdays, 6 P.M. to 4 A.M. Cover charges: Tuesdays, 6 to 7 P.M., free for women (after 7 P.M., $5 for women, $10 for men); Fridays, between 6 and 7 P.M., free for women (after 9:30 P.M., $10 for women, $15 for men). Saturdays, $10 for women, $15 for men. S.O.B.'s, #204 Varick Street, at Houston Street (243-4940). Salsa concerts planned Jan. 3 and 4 and Jan. 9 and 11. Cover, $15 to $18. PALLADIUM, #126 East 14th Street (473-7171). Thursdays, 9 P.M. Admission, between 9 and 11, free for women, $10 for men; after 11 P.M., $15 for everyone. VILLAGE GATE, Bleecker and Thompson Streets (475-5120). Salsa concerts resume Monday nights in March. STUDIO 84, #3534 Broadway, at 145th Street, (926-2424). Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 9 P.M. Admission, $15. CLUB BROADWAY, #2551 Broadway, at 96th Street, (864-7600). Fridays and Saturdays, 9 P.M. to 4 A.M.; Sundays (Mexican night), 9 P.M.; Admission, women free 9 to 11 P.M.; after 11 P.M., cover charge ranges from $10 to $15 for everyone. FUEGO FUEGO, #557 West 157th Street, (781-7111). Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, 10 P.M., Sundays, 5 P.M. Admission, Fridays, free for women before 11 P.M. ($15 for everyone after 11 P.M.); Saturdays, free for women before 10 P.M., then $20 for everyone after 10 P.M.); Sundays, $20 for everyone; Mondays, free for women before 11 P.M. ($20 for everyone after 11 P.M.) VOICES, #396 East Tremont Avenue, near Webster Avenue, the Bronx (294-2610). Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30 P.M. to 4:30 A.M. Admission, free for women before 11 P.M.; after 11 P.M., $10 for everyone. CASA BORINQUEN, #300 Wycoff Avenue, near Myrtle Avenue, in the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn (718-456-6000). Fridays and Saturdays, 9 P.M. to 4 A.M. Admission, $10.

Photos of Tito Nieves performing at Club Broadway during a night of Latin music. (NYT/Michelle V. Agins) (pg. 49); Eddie Palmieri and his band performing at S.O.B.'s (NYT/Linda M. Baron) (pg. 55)